Film Frame - Showing Film Frames in Animation and Movies

Showing Film Frames in Animation and Movies

Some humor in animation is based on the fourth wall aspect of the film frame itself, with some animation showing characters leaving what is assumed to be the edge of the film or the film malfunctioning. This latter one is used often in films as well. This hearkens back to some early cartoons, where characters were aware of the fact they were in a cartoon, specifically the fact they could look at the credits and be aware of something that isn't part of the story as presented. These jokes include -

• Split frames - Where the fourth wall is broken by two frames, the lower half of the previous frame and the upper part of the next frame, showing at once, with jokes involving them including a character crossing the frame itself.
• Film Break - A famous form of joke, where the film either snaps or is deliberately broken, with often the fourth wall coming into play during this period when, rightfully, there should be nothing on screen.
• Exiting the frame - This joke, an extension of the split frames joke, has characters depart from the sides of the frame, sometimes finding themselves falling out of the cartoon entirely.